Yes doctor, I am sick.Sick of those who are spineless.Sick of those who feel self-entitled.Sick of those who are hypocrites.Yes doctor, an army is forming.Yes doctor, there will be a war.Yes doctor, there will be blood.....

Madison wrote:The biggest problem I have with the deal so far is that the player's association is getting involved. According to them, a player can't give up too much that way in doesn't affect the other players. Who are they to say how much money a World Series ring is worth? If Arod agrees to change his contract, the Rangers are willing to trade him, and Boston is willing to pay the revised contract, then why should the player's association even stick their noses in it?

Oh, and I'm neither a Yankees or Red Sox fan. My team is the Rangers. No pitching at all, but I still root for them.

Mad, I totally agree with you. I like this deal, depending on what we're giving up. I don't like the rumors of us using some of the bounty from Nomar to sweeten the deal with the Rangers... but who knows?

No matter, the union is now saying that a player can't earn a little less money? Isn't winning worth a lot? Uggh.

I'm not sure if this article has been posted--my brain is much right now from all of this--but it's a good read on the irony of this all. I just want this to end. ugggh.

When the Cardinals traded Curt Flood to the Phillies in 1969, the talented outfielder balked, arguing he should have some control over his destiny after 13 seasons as St. Louis property. He sued, claiming baseball's reserve clause permitted teams to hold or sell him like "a slave 100 years ago."

Flood's case gave great impetus to the Players Association, which was formed in 1966 and fought for the rights of players to determine where they wanted to play and on what terms. Even though Flood ultimately lost his case in the US Supreme Court, an arbitrator struck down the reserve clause in 1975 and created a new era of worker rights in the national pastime.

Nearly 29 years later, the game potentially faces another legal challenge, this one involving the Red Sox and Alex Rodriguez, baseball's highest-paid player. Another arbitrator soon may be asked to rule on how much power a player such as Rodriguez has to restructure his contract in order to play for a team that wants him -- and that he wants to play for -- after his own team, the Texas Rangers, has given him permission to leave.

"The perverse irony" of the looming showdown is that the Players Association would oppose Rodriguez, according to Paul Finkelman, the Chapman Distinguished Professor of Law at University of Tulsa College of Law.

The union yesterday blocked the restructuring agreement between Rodriguez and the Sox, citing a clause in the collective bargaining agreement that requires such a contract revision to provide an actual or potential benefit to the player.

"What we have here is the most odd thing of all," said Finkelman, a former fellow at Harvard Law School who teaches two courses in baseball law at Tulsa. "The whole origin of the union comes from a player's desire to play in the city where he wants to play as long as a team in that city wants him to play there. Now the union is coming along and saying [Rodriguez] is not getting enough to play where he wants to play. That seems to me to be outrageous on the part of the union."

The union, wary of Rodriguez opening the floodgates to other players renegotiating their contracts (at potentially reduced value) to play elsewhere, claimed the Sox and Rodriguez sought changes in the $179 balance of his contract over the next seven years that would take money out of Rodriguez's pocket to the team's advantage.

"It was clear it crossed the line . . . and by a huge margin," Orza said after meeting with Rodriguez, his agent, Scott Boras, and Sox general manager Theo Epstein.

In the union's view, the Sox sought a reduction in A-Rod's salary without a commensurate give-back. Orza said he made a counterproposal the Sox rejected, thereby killing the deal until a satisfactory proposal is presented to the Players Association.

The commissioner's office fired back, saying the union not only may have misinterpreted the collective bargaining agreement but may have overstepped its authority in blocking the deal. Major League Baseball could approve the restructuring agreement, prompting the union to file a grievance and send the case to an arbitrator.

"The basic agreement contains a rule that requires any special covenant to be an actual or potential benefit to the player," said Rob Manfred, executive vice president of labor relations & human resources for Major League Baseball. "In a situation like the current situation, where there was a restructuring where the player was getting something and the club was getting something, Gene Orza is not the final arbitrator on whether the restructuring provides an actual or potential benefit to the player. The commissioner currently is considering his legal options in consultation with the two teams."

Finkelman indicated the issue of "actual or potential benefit" could face a considerable challenge in arbitration. Rodriguez, for instance, could reap a number of intangible benefits by fulfilling his desire to play for the Sox rather than the Rangers.

"It strikes me that there may be a huge benefit in playing for the Red Sox when it means that you're playing every year for a real pennant contender," Finkelman said. "It's especially huge if the alternative is to rot in Arlington, Texas, for the rest of your life."

The Players Association appeared adamantly opposed, however, to allowing Rodriguez to accept anything that appeared less valuable than the initial 10-year, $252 million he negotiated.

"We cannot allow clubs to downwardly negotiate contracts," he said.

But Finkelman found the union's stance hard to fathom.

"My point is, if your player wants to move, in this case to Boston, it's bizarre that the union would say, `No, you can't,' " he said.

I definitely agree with the article that A-Rod's tangible benefit in restructuring his contract is leaving Arlington and going to Boston.A-Rod is a willing participant in the restructuring of his contract. No one is forcing him to do it against his will. The players contracts are guaranteed, they don't have to restructure if they don't want to. They are not being mistreated in any way. Hopefully Bud will step in and get this sent to arbitration.
On a different note, the Pettitte fiasco was the last straw with me as far as George is concerned. He's a pompous bully who I can't stomach anymore. I am no longer a Yankee fan and am now a follower of the Astros. Down with George! Stros in '04!

I could be wrong in what I'm saying but I'll be dead before I realize it.

trevisc wrote:I hope they turn around and trade manny to another team! I was a ranger fan all my life up until I move to Tennessee in 1990. I've been a Braves fan for the last 13!

I would love a Braves/Rangers WS someday!

How does that work, changing teams you root for? It makes no sense to me what so ever. Your team is your team forever, you don't just change on a whim. I would consider this frontrunning if the Braves had been good since you started rooting for them, but that is obviously not the case.

There are more than a few people in NY who have now become Astro fans. George is wining and dining Sheffield down in Tampa the past month and didn't pick up the phone ONCE since the season ended to try and work out a deal with Andy. The man has been an integral part of 4 World Championship teams and this is the respect you show him? I heard the following on the radio and this is so true. Steinbrenner is just like Hugh Grant. He has Liz Hurley sitting at home but he needs to go out and fool around with Marvin Hagler with a wig to turn him on. He's already starting to mess with Bernie by trying to force him to be DH. He's tried a bunch of times to trade Andy and Bernie. Stick Micheal, the architect of this championship team run, has not been consulted on any moves this offseason. He's treated his world championship coaching staff like crap. He's now constructed this team with Sheffield, Brown, Lofton and Sierra. I cannot root for them anymore.

I could be wrong in what I'm saying but I'll be dead before I realize it.

Trans, thanks for the full article. I had read bits and pieces here and there, so it was nice to see the entire thing.

Yes doctor, I am sick.Sick of those who are spineless.Sick of those who feel self-entitled.Sick of those who are hypocrites.Yes doctor, an army is forming.Yes doctor, there will be a war.Yes doctor, there will be blood.....